Senior female cat will not accept male 14 week old kitten?

Question

We adopted an 8 week old male cat into our household. His name is Ollie. We have a 14 year old Siamese female - her name is Jade. Jade was the 3rd of 3 cats that I had for a very long time. She fought to be the top cat all the time. Once the other two cats passed of old age, we adopted a dog. Jade was not happy with Buster but they eventually learned to be ok with each other. Knowing that Jade is getting up in age and Buster would be so lonely at home when Jade passes we decided to get an 8 week old kitten named Ollie.

Ollie and Buster have bonded completely, however, Jade only wants Ollie's blood spilt. For the first two weeks Jade was dealing with it. We even have pictures of Jade and Ollie eating together and laying on the couch together. Jade has a grumpy attitude most of the time even before bringing Ollie into the picture.

One day out of the blue Jade took after Ollie in a very mean fighting way. Since that day they have been separated. After 3 weeks of keeping separated and no sight of each other at all, we started site swapping as per Jackson Galaxy. After 2 weeks of that we installed a screen door on the bedroom door where Ollie stays and the have been eating on each side of the screen for 2 weeks with no problems at all. So we decided to move to the next step of being in the same room together. It went well for about 5 mins. Then ended on a good note and back to their rooms. The second time we tried, Jade immediately broke thru her door and immediately attacked Ollie horribly again. So now we are back at feeding thru the screen door and site swapping.

It has been well over 2 months of this stuff. I don't know what else to do. I am using Feliway as well for almost 2 months. Will Jade ever be allowed to be in same room as Ollie? Will the blood shed ever stop?

We have all been uprooted as I have to sleep in the spare room with Jade due to the fact she will not have me behind a closed door. If I keep her in the bedroom with me at night and Ollie and Buster in the living room - Jade scratches at the door to get out. If I keep Ollie and Buster with me in the bedroom and Jade in the living room Jade scratches to get in. If I leave Jade and Buster in the living room Buster and Jade scratch to get in. They all want to sleep with me but Jade will not allow any of this to happen anymore. Please help

Answer 1

Darn, what a sad situation!

I know cats have different temperaments. This means some cats are fine with other animals, while others aren’t. It sounds to me based off her behavior (of wanting to be alpha, having troubles with the dog, etc) that she probably isn’t a pet that gets along with other animals.

I’m not sure how much of this you can change. She may always prefer to be a single pet. However, you could try to train her. Maybe train her what behavior is appropriate or isn’t. I know a lot of people say not to use negative punishment with cats. But I will say we’ve tried giving our cat treats to get down from things and it didn’t do very much. Now we have a spray bottle and he is very receptive to the word down. We say down and he will quickly get down from things. So maybe you could teach her that being mean to the kitten is not ok.

Another thought is you could try talking to a cat trainer. I’m sure they have more experience and tricks up their sleeves that could help!

Answer 2

If you're following Jackson Galaxy's method for introducing cats, it sounds like you left out a pretty crucial step, which is when you are first introducing the cats face-to-face, you need to make sure both cats are well distracted the entire time. In his words:

1. Start with One Cat: Begin by playing with only one cat in the room at first. Make sure she is engaged, and keep her moving… either with treats or a toy.

2. Bring in the Other Cat: Casually have your partner bring the other cat into the room and immediately engage him. In a perfect world, you would lead the cat into the space with whatever is their favorite food or toy.

3. Keep the “Rhythm” Going: The most important component when you bring the cats together is establishing and maintaining a rhythm of play once they hit the room. This is where your partner’s help is invaluable, because he or she can work to focus the other cat on the session while you do the same with yours.

4. End the Session: The session will end in one of two ways: either the cats will end it, or the humans will. It goes without saying that you would prefer the latter every time.